A country that never was
by Tastymints
Summary: Natalia's  tragic youth and how, after losing everything, she fell under Lithuania's influence.
1. Chapter 1

A young girl laid panting on the cold, wet ground. It was hard to breath, all that smoke, fire, screams, clatter of metal. She had been hit by something while she was running away from the dark, ugly demon. Demons. Not humans. Demons came suddenly in the very morning at dawn when it was still dark. They didn't hide their presence and began burning, killing and robbing the very instance they reached her town. They had dark skin, strange, narrow eyes and yelled in some barbaric, evil tongue. The young girl slowly brought her palm to her forehead and made a cross. In the name of the God, the Son and they Holy Spirit. Amen. She wished she had lost consciousness or even died. This pain and terror was unbearable. It started to quiet down, or is it her fading away from this world? She saw a Dark, ugly figure standing beside her, he was saying something to her but she didn't reply even though she was scared, she didn't know how to, she wasn't even sure whether she could speak at all. Her vision was becoming blurry, the smell of carnage was overwhelming her senses. The dark figure yelled something at her and spat. He unsheathed his crescent sword and lifted it above her. The girl cried out and shut her eyes preparing for the worst to come.

She heard a strange, quick sound followed by a sound of something or someone falling next to her. She opened one eye and saw that the demon wasn't there anymore. She looked to the other side as much as her unresponsive neck muscles allowed her to. The demon wasn't there either. She felt something warm touching her neck and shoulder, some sort of liquid. She looked left and right beside her she saw a contorted face of the dark heathen, with blood coming out of his lifeless mouth. Terrified, she brought her shaking hand to her neck to get some liquid on her fingers, she then brought it up to her sight. Still hot, deep red, even more so under the first, bright rays of the sun, blood. Blood of the demon.

The sound of the broken twig averted her terrified gaze to a bright figure now standing next to her. Iron. This ..thing... was fully clad in iron with a big, red feather sticking out of the top of his helmet. Perhaps she would laugh if it didn't hurt so much. The man inside the iron-man said something she, yet again, could not understand. His iron hands moved to his iron head and he lifted it, exposing another head. A human one. He had light brown, untrimmed hair with some loose bangs hanging to the sides of his face, and piercing green eyes. He was looking at her triumphantly, with the confidence of a winner. This was the last thing that Natalia saw that day before her conscience had finally slipped away from her.

When she finally come to her senses she realized that she wasn't at home anymore. In-fact it looked nothing like her comfortable room. It was some kind of tent, but a big tent. She heard the sound of horses and men coming from outside. She tried to sit up but felt the sudden jolt of pain in her back and quickly abandoned that plan. She was happy that she is alive and the heathens had gone. Or have they?

"Oh! You are awake" came a strange sounding voice.

Brown haired and green eyed head was peeking from the tent's door. He immediately walked in with no hesitation. Natalia averted her gaze feeling uneasy being in such a helpless, compromising situation in-front of the stranger.

"What is it you want from me, foreign stranger?" she asked quietly.

"What? Have you forgotten I saved you? Or has that blow taken your memories?" the man asked back, her question made him feel uneasy, she can't possibly be implying indecent intentions on his part.

"No, I remember. But why have you saved me and brought me here? Do my people know I'm here? Does... my Prince know I'm here?"

"Oh. I suppose I'd have to tell you sooner or later anyway. My name is Toris. I saved you yesterday. Many of your people, including the ruling Prince and his family perished in the fight with the Mongols. Now your lands belong to my Prince. I'm afraid you'll have to stay at my castle with us from now on." he said slowly and carefully.

The room was silent for a good minute. It was all too much. Too much information to process at once too much to stomach. She was at loss of words. Why? Who? Mongols? Demons. Prince is dead? She is being taken somewhere? No. Can it really be? She knew well that there must have been many losses, many lifes so dear to her lost, but... even the prince was dead?

"You are lying, I don't trust you. Who are you? Where did you come from? Why are my lands yours? They are not yours!"

"But they are! You were attacked by the Mongol hordes and lost badly. We attacked the Mongols and drove them back from these lands. Now the lands are ours. Your people are weak and can't fight. You would have perished if not for us. You cannot have the land if you cannot keep others from taking it from you."

She was quiet again, refusing to look at him. He was about to leave the tent as he began feeling very uneasy and somewhat guilty for having to force his Prince's plans on her, when he heard her quiet voice say:

"Toris... the world is not a savage garden."

Not paying much thought to her words, he exited the tent.

NOTE: Belarus first was mentioned when Vikings settled in a city called Polotsk. This was the first Belarusian principality, principality of Polotsk. Later it fell under the influence of Kiev ( capital of Kievan Rus) for 200 years. In 1240 Kiev was invaded by Mongols. It was a brutal invasion and many Belarusian villages and towns disappeared. Grand Dutchy of Lithuania pushed Mongols to the east and south, absorbing all Belarusian lands in the process.


	2. Chapter 2

After mysterious Toris exited the tent a strange emotion crept into Natalia's chest. Anxiety. For the first time in her life Natalia was faced with a total blankness in her available options. What to do next? The more appropriate question was what can be done and what can she realistically do to escape the unattractive predicament of living with that Toris in his Prince's castle. Her first impression of him was that she neither particularly liked or disliked him, which wasn't a very good thing as this made it hard to decide on her plan of action. He seemed very sure of himself and much too strong for Natalia's liking as she considered herself to be a figure of a strong personality as well. This could cause a clash. He didn't seem like a cruel person who wanted her dead or suffering, but he wouldn't let her go free either, probably not without a good fight for sure. Fight... Should she fight him and try to win the freedom for herself and her lands, but what would happen if she failed? How bad could the punishment be? Natalia wasn't very good at fighting, she hated fighting and was rather scared to engage in a physical combat to be exact. Maybe... maybe that was the reason why her lands had suffered such losses? If she was a strong man, like that Toris, perhaps her nation wouldn't be in such a complete disaster. She could protect what was hers better, she wouldn't have to be a captive now having to exist in the shadow of the other.

Natalia felt like crying but then she composed herself deciding that she has done enough crying yesterday and it will make matters even worse if she starts again, who knows what if Toris decides to invite himself into her tent again and sees her crying, she didn't want to give him the opportunity to see her like that in such a weak moment. She laid still for some moments trying to calm herself down. When she finally felt a bit better she looked around the tent. It was quite empty despite being rather big. There was a small table there and a chair, and that was it. How boring. Just how long would she have to stay here. She wished she was sleepy and could at least sleep. She lifted the blanket and looked at her cloths, it was the same dress she was in yesterday but dirty and it smelled like smoke. She was grateful that the foreign strangers didn't undress her while she was unconscious, for that would be quite embarrassing. She was hungry as well, and thirsty. More thirsty than hungry actually but there was no water or food in the tent. How unwelcoming. Would she have to ask for everything?

Natalia didn't know exactly for how long she had been lying like this, waiting, hoping for a servant to walk in with some water and food. It was getting unbearable so she balled her palms into fists and tried to sit down. She felt some pain in her back and it discouraged her somehow, however she persisted and managed to get up. The pain has somehow lessened and was much less bothersome now. She walked towards the tent's curtain-like door and peeked outside. The camp was in some kind of large field at the edge of the forest. To the far left she saw a group of soldiers sitting in a cirlce talking and laughing, to the close right there were 2 horses strapped to a tree trunk chewing on a surrounding grass. A great plan of escape suddenly formed in her mind. She quickly but quietly walked out of the tent towards the 2 horses. She approached them carefully and bit her lip, thing is she has never ridden a horse before and she was a little bit scared to ride them and her Prince once said that it's not a lady-like thing to ride on a horse's back, that's what carriages were for.

Natalia inhaled deeply and tried to untie the knot on the thick branch of a tree. It was a very tight knot. She wasn't even sure now whether it was such a good plan and if she should go back to her tent instead. She felt tense and her hands started shaking, she couldn't untie the knot fast and what if one of the men turned around for whatever reason and saw her trying to escape? She hasn't felt that scared since yesterday when she thought she's about to die. Finally the knot gave in and she placed one of her feet into the stirrup iron. Then she found herself wondering, how does one get onto the horse's back? She saw the men do it many times but at this very moment she wasn't sure if she could do it. She tried to climb up the horse but felt a sudden jolt of pain in her back again. She decided to try one more time, as there was no way of turning back now.

Suddenly, someone's hand grabbed her right shoulder and swung her around. She saw a rather angry Toris looking at her with his disapproving green eyes.

"Never. Never try to escape again."- he said.

"I, I wasn't! I was hungry and... that's why I... and I was thirsty! Yeah..that's why I ..." Natalia knew she couldn't get her words out and it didn't look like Toris was buying any of it at all. She stopped talking and just averted her gaze to look at the green grass to the right side.

"Come with me, I will take you back to your tent." he said, this time in a lower, quieter voice.

He gestured for her to follow first and so she did, hanging her head low, looking away from him. She couldn't master the courage necessary to look at him right now. Toris motioned with his hand for her to walk in first.


	3. Chapter 3

As Belarus entered the tent she felt even more tense. She really hoped that Lithuania will leave soon. No, he will probably stay to lecture her, to say something scary to prevent her attempting to escape again. Maybe he'll try to strike some sort of bargain that he may or may not keep later. In any case, he's probably pretty angry right now.

Natalia stood facing her bed, with her back to Toris. She crossed her hands on her chest, feeling her shoulders getting more stiff. Even though she felt Toris' stare burning her back she still couldn't turn around to face him.

"Miss Belarus, perhaps we got off on the wrong foot. Please, do not feel threatened. I promise you that I will do all in my power to make your stay with us comfortable. My boss is a truly great and clever man. If you only got to know him... I'm sure he will be a good boss to you as well", he said in a worried but confident voice.

"Oh, yes, smart he is for sure, capturing my lands at our weakest point, very smart indeed..." Natalia replied in a hurried voice but was interrupted.

"And saving you at the same time! Mongols aren't very kind to those who defy them, they are known for their cruelty. You would have been enslaved or even worse! I... I met your brother several months earlier and.."

"My brother is alive? How about my sister? Please, tell me I need to kno..."

"Uh.. I haven't seen your sister only your brother. He didn't look that good, I wasn't even sure whether he was a nation at first at all, he was all dressed in rugs... Uhh I mean I wasn't even sure whether it was him or not, I was probably wrong and he is indeed dead." said Lithuania in one breath. He couldn't believe what a silly thing he had said just now. It's better not to inform her of what happened to her brother, who knows what she can do after hearing that. What if she decided to escape to try to go see him, that could mean all sorts of trouble. She could get enslaved or perish, either way he could lose her and all the newly gained territory of hers. No, he could not allow this. It's better to lie to her for now saying that he did not see him.

"W-what? You aren't sure whether it was my brother or not? I don't trust you! I don't think you have seen him at all. You are just trying to talk me out of escaping." Natalia said in irritated voice, still refusing to turn to face Lithuania.

"Think what you want but, please, do not try to escape again. There's dangerous things out there in the forest, hungry wolves, bears and robbers. Also where can you go? I can offer you a home and I will protect you."

Toris made a step closer. Realizing that he is getting closer Natalia quickly turned around to face him. At that very moment Ocean blue eyes met Emerald green. Toris couldn't help telling himself how beautiful she is, with the prettiest blue eyes. She looked only slightly younger than himself and Toris sincerely hoped that they could get along well. He couldn't wait to take her to his castle and to get to know her better. However, he had to take some precautions to make sure this happens...

"I will bring you water and food, we don't have maids here, only soldiers" he said, smiling lightly and warmly. "I apologize that I haven't done this sooner, I had quite a few matters to take care of" he added.

"Yes, thank you" Natalia said averting her gaze. He was only a step away from her and looking straight into her eyes. That made her feel a little uneasy. She wished she wasn't so shy.

"Well then, I'm going to get you something, I will be back very soon" he said and walked to the door, he gave her one more glance before exiting the tent.

Belarus sat on her bed. She felt somewhat relieved now that her future didn't look totally misty. She felt gratefull to Lithuania for his kind words and for... saving her yesterday. And however you look at things he was right. Her brother disappeared and there was no way for her to find out whether he's still alive, and alone she couldn't do anything, where could she go? Lithuania didn't seem bad now at all, in fact the opposite he seemed kind in a way. She reminded herself one more time that it could be worse.

Toris didn't take any maids on his military campaign, however he did take a good cook. He had asked him to cook some traditional foods to please his "guest". He wasn't even sure why he was so excited about introducing his homeland meals to Miss Natalia. It was out of courtesy and good intent first, but now he really, really waned her to enjoy them. He took the prettiest tray available and put all the meals on it, he placed a large cup of warm honey-water drink on it. He reminded himself that she must be extremely thirsty right now and he placed another cup of just water on a tray, just in case. He lifted the tray carefully and ignoring curious looks from his soldiers carried it to Natalia's tent.

"Miss Natalia, may I come in?"

"Yes, come in please." Natalia said, as if she could refuse him even if she wanted.

Toris came in and placed the tray on a small table. Natalia looked at the dishes. They looked great and they smelled even better. All of the dishes had mushroom in them, which was good she liked mushrooms. She could probably eat a horse right now. And then she saw... water! She quickly sat on the chair, reached for the cup of water and emptied it all in one go.

"We really like mushrooms here in Lithuania, almost all of our dishes have mushrooms in them, I hope you don't mind the mushrooms" he said smiling.

"No, I... I like mushrooms" Natalia said, smiling back at him. This information has made him look happier and his smile widened slightly. It was a pleasant meal, Toris seemed to know quite a lot about food and he would tell her a little bit about every meal that was on the tray. Natalia had really enjoyed his company, he seemed easy to talk to.

After she finished eating Toris took the tray and said that he has to take care of some things but he would come again in the evening to see how she is doing and wish her good night. He apologized for leaving her with no company until evening.

He came in the late evening when she went to bed. "Good night, miss Natalia" he said quietly.

"Toris, could you tell me a fairytale from your country?" Natalia asked shyly.

"Oh" he said surprised. It was a strange request. He has never told anything like that to anyone. Well, he wasn't asked to by anyone before. A fairy tale... but which one? He forgot almost all of them, except one, his favorite one, that he remembered clearly.

"Very well, miss Natalia" he said, smiling warmly and seating on her bed beside her. " I will tell you my favorite fairytale, it's called: Egle the Queen of Serpents". He started slowly and was surprised at how interested Belarus looked when he was telling it to her. Was he a good storyteller? His story seemed to have captured her attention fully. After he finished with the tale, they wished each other good night and he left for his tent.

NOTE: Egle the Queen of Serpents is a very popular fairytale in Lithuania. I suggest to read it, it's really quite good.

From WIKI: " At the beginning a young girl Eglė after bathing with her two sisters discovers a serpent in her clothes. Speaking in a human voice, the serpent agrees to go away only after Eglė pledges herself to him in exchange for his leaving the clothes, not realising the possible consequences. Three days passed, thousands of serpents come for the bride, but are tricked by her relatives three times in a row. A goose, a sheep and a cow are given instead but the cuckoo warns about the deceit every time. Enraged serpents return the final time and take Eglė with them to the bottom of the sea to their master.

Instead of seeing a serpent, Eglė meets her bridegroom Žilvinas, a handsome human, the Serpent Prince. They live together happily and bear four children, until Eglė decides to visit home and her husband denies it. In order to be allowed to visit home, Eglė is required to fulfill three impossible tasks: to spin a never-ending tuft of silk, wear down a pair of iron shoes and to bake a pie with no utensils. After she gets advice from the sorceress and succeeds, Eglė and the children are reluctantly let go by Žilvinas.

After meeting the long lost family members, Eglė's relatives do not wish to let them back to the sea and decide to kill Žilvinas. His sons are forced by Eglė's brothers to tell the secret calling of their father. The boys are threatened and beaten by their uncles, however they remain silent and do not betray their father. Finally, a frightened daughter discloses it.

The twelve brothers call Žilvinas the Serpent from the sea and kill him using scythes.

Worried Eglė calls her husband, but unfortunately only foams of blood return from the sea. When Eglė discovers that her beloved is dead, as a punishment for betrayal she turns her children and herself into trees. The sons were turned into strong trees, an oak, ash and birch, whereas the daughter was turned into a common aspen. Finally, Eglė transformed herself into a spruce."


	4. Chapter 4

"I hope you slept well, Miss Natalia" - said gentle voice of a young blond boy.

" Yes, indeed, I slept very well, thank you... um, I don't know your name. What is it?"- Natalia asked a young boy who has just entered her tent.

"My name is Raivis, excuse me for not introducing myself first"- said the boy and bowed gracefully.

Natalia thought that Raivis was a pretty name for a pretty boy who looked a little bit like her brother. He had wavy blond hair, purple eyes and was dressed very well. However, she senced something in him. Something dear and akin to herself. Could he be one of ...

" Are you... one of us?" Natalia asked with unhidden curiously in her voice.

"Yes, I'm a country too. I live with Lithuania, he takes good care of me. I am his younger brother. I'm Latvia" a boy answered and smiled shyly.

" I had no idea there was another one of us here!" Natalia exclaimed. "Why haven't Toris introduced you to me earlier?"

"Well...I... I was sick actually. I caught the nastiest cold and just got better this morning. Toris wanted me to wait one more day before meeting you but I sneaked out from my tent. I really wanted to meet you. Toris said you were really pretty and I wanted to see for myself" Raivis said, blushing slightly.

Natalia blushed at that herself. She heard people calling her pretty before but it felt different knowing that Toris thinks so too. Could it be that he likes her more than just a guest? Natalia thought that Toris was very noble and kind but she haven't even suspected that he thought of her as of someone "pretty". She tried to search her own feelings to decide whether she could describe him as "handsome" in return. She realised that she viewed him more like a brother figure. He looked very good, she liked his face, his hair while slightly messy looking were a nice, light shade of brown. She decided that he was what one could call " handsome". But she couldn't tell it to Raivis. Natalia smiled, imagining what reaction Toris would have if she told Raivis that she thought that he's handsome as well. How would he react?

"What's so funny? Why are you smiling?" asked Raivis suspiciously.

" Oh, never mind, I'm just very happy today. In the past 3 days I've met 2 new nations like me" Natalia lied. She felt slightly guilty lieing to her new, ususpecting friend.

"Me too! I'm very happy to meet you too. Is it true you are coming to live with us?"

"Yes"

"Latvia! What did I tell you? When will you start listening to me?" came a familiar voice.

Both Natalia and Raivis turned to see Toris walking into the tent.

" Good morning, miss Natalia, how was your sleep?" asked Toris.

Belarus remembered what Raivis said and blushed. She wondered what Lithuania was thinking now while looking at her. Was he thinking that she's pretty?

" I slept well, thank you, Toris"

" I'm happy to hear that. We will leave in couple of hours. We'll go back to the castle. Our military campaign is over and it's time to go home. We'll be taking down all the tents but don't worry, we'll take down yours last" Lithuania looked at Raivis and added" stay with miss Natalia, if you like, keep her some company".

It was three hours into the journey. Some men, including Toris were on horses some were on foot. Natalia and Raivis were sitting ontop of a large cart. They were chatting non stop about this and that. Toris would switch between them and his men. He'll talk for sometime to them then he would ride off to talk to some soldiers then back to them. Toris said that they are getting close to his castle. He decided to have a quick stop so that people can attend to their natural needs.

"Boys left, girls right" Toris said loudly. His men and Raivis, wasting no time, hurried to the left of the forest.

"Take this horn, Miss Natalia. Please, use it if any trouble befalls you or if you see any dangerous beast and I'll come to help you as soon as I can" said Toris, handing her a white horn with some silver decorations on both sides of it. "Also, please, take this" he added, handing her a small, black dagger. "Just in case".

"Thank you, Toris. Don't worry, nothing would happen to me, I promise. Don't worry so much about me." Natalia said smiling.

It was a sunny day and the forest was quiet and beautiful. Natalia could hear some birds chirping. She has never been in the forest completely alone before, it was somewhat new. She felt very free and it was very relaxing. The ancient Pine-trees were oh so tall and hazel. Natalia heard a twig break and quickly looked to the direction the noice came from. She saw a thin figure in what looked like very tattered cloths quickly hiding behind a tree about fifteen metres infront of her. Natalia started to wonder whether it was perhaps a forest troll since there weren't any villages around this place.

"Hey there, show yourself whoever you are. I promise I won't hur you!" Natalia said loudly but made sure she didn't scream, the didn't want to scare him away.

The figure peeked out from behind the tree. Platinum blond hair, purple eyes...

Belarus gasped. " Ivan! Is it really you?" she uttered, not yet fully believing what she was seeing.

The boy smiled then laughed then quickly turned around and ran behind the next tree further away from her.

"Wait! Ivan, please, it's not time for games" Natalia exclaimed and ran towards that tree.

" The boy peeked out again, saw her getting closer to him and ran behind another tree" he was very fast.

"Wait, Ivan, why are you doing this?" Natalia said, her voice sounding desperate.

It continued like that for about ten minutes. Natalia was out of breath and she still couldn't catch him. The boy just laughed and ran off further into the forest.

"Wait!" Natalia yelled with tears in her eyes. She had to go into the direction he had ran off to, she had to find him. Has he gone mad? She wanted to see her brother again. She knew she promised Toris not to run away and that nothing would happen to her but she had to break that promise. "Sorry, Toris. Sorry, Raivis. I cannot come with you " she quietly muttered and ran to the direction Ivan has ran off to.

No matter how hard she looked and how loudly she called she couldn't find a sight of him again. Was it some kind of vision? Maybe it was indeed a forest troll playing cruel tricks on her trying to lure her into a trap? But she wanted to keep looking, what if it really was Ivan? What if he's in-trouble?

"There you are!" came a familiar voice. Natalia quickly turned saw a very dissatisfied looking Toris with some soldiers and with a couple of dogs.

"Did you get lost? Why didn't you use the horn?" asked Lithuania suspiciously. He extended his arm to her "Come".

"No." Natalia answered in a worried voice and out of breath. "I'm sorry but I must... I must go find my brother, I can't come with you. I saw my brother, Ivan, he was here..."

Lithuania's eyes widened but he quickly regained his composure. So it looks like he was here again, that unfortunate country under the Mongol rule.

Toris walked over to Natalia and grabbed her hand. " You are probably still tired after recent horrific events, Miss Natalia".

"No! I know what I saw. You've said yourself that you have seen him around your lands, remember?" said Natalia trying to free her hand from his grasp. She pulled hard, as hard as she could but he wouldn't let go. Moreover his grip on her wrist trightened. Natalia, not knowing what else she could do, brought her other hand towards his and tried to pull up his fingers to loosen his grip, no matter how hard she pulled on them he woulld't give in. She brought her wrist up to her mouth and bit on his hand as hard as she could. She kept biting, leaving pink marks on it. Finally she looked up to see his face, whether he exhibited any sign of pain. She almost gasped, he was just smiling, looking very amused. He looked almost as if he was enjoying it.

" I'm sorry, but I cannot lose you" he said in a low voice. He turned around and pulled her hand, despite her resistance, dragging her behind him.

"Hey! Let me go you, you disgusting heathen!" Natalia exclaimed angrily and proceeded hitting and kicking him from behind.

Luthuania turned around and said something to his men who were looking at them both with very worried and confused eyes. One of them walked over to Toris and handed him a thin rope. Lithuania grabbed Belarus' hands and quickly tied them up with the rope.

"I'll never forgive you, you barbarian, how dare you tie me up umf ffu..." suddenly someone from behind put a strip of cloth around her mouth which prevented her from talking.

"I'm sorry but I had to do this to prevent you from kicking and insulting me, miss Natalia. Please, try to calm down" said Toris and picked her up.

Natalia didn't want him carrying her at all and she tried to wriggle out of his hold as much as she could. He almost dropped her.

"If you don't stop it, I will have to tie your legs together as well" Toris warned her looking in her face, smiling, his eyes looked like two crescents, he looked happy.

Belarus didn't want to do what he asked and kept struggling. Toris said something to his men again and one of them ran up to her to tie her legs.

They walked out of the forest towards the road. This time, instead of a cart, Toris wanted Natalia to sit on his horse in-front of him. He told her that it's so that she doesn't fall off or anything as she's tied up.

It was very strange to sit so close to him, feeling the warmth from his chest on her back. She heard him explaining to Raivis what had happened and why she's tied up like that. Raivis looked worried and upset, but not angry with her. He still seemed to be unable to fully comprehend why she was tied up.

After about half an hour Toris whispered in her hear: "I will remove the cloth around your mouth if you promise to behave and not say anything bad".

Natalia gasped, his whisper felt... ticklish. She quickly turned her head as far from him as she could and did a "Hm!" sound.

"As you wish, miss Natalia" answered Toris smiling one of those happy smiles again.

TBC

I was thinking where does Belarus' habit of twisting Lithuania's fingers come from? And he always seems to not mind her hurting him very much, one could think he's enjoying it or something. Could Lithuania have some strange mental condition, like a form of masochism? XD I've been thinking about it lately. This is probably why the chapter came up the way it did.


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